


Bernadetta's Free Day

by RoaringTurtle



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Black Eagles (Fire Emblem), Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Pre-Time Skip, pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-06-29 05:29:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19823521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoaringTurtle/pseuds/RoaringTurtle
Summary: Bernadetta just wants to spend her Sunday on her own, but she keeps running into the other Black Eagles.And somehow it isn't too bad?





	1. Edelgard and Hubert

Most people don't understand how much work it takes to relax. Take Linhardt, for example. He would probably nap on his Sundays, but before he can do that, he needs to find the perfect spot. It can't be too loud, it needs to be the right temperature, it and can't be too bright. And those factors fluctuate throughout the day, so not only does he need to find the perfect spot, he also needs to predict the next perfect spot.

Although knowing Linhardt, he probably just finds the nearest tree and dozes off.

But Bernadetta was determined to do it properly. She had toiled for the last six days in her classes, and today would be her only reprieve. Bernadetta was determined to have a perfect day to herself, but unfortunately that requires some supplies. And to get those supplies she needed to bring herself to get them outside.

"C'mon Bernie, It'll be quick," She reassured herself as she hesitantly left the safety of her room, venturing into the bright Garreg Mach Monastery.

The first thing on the to-do list was to get breakfast. Fortunately, the dining hall was serving the perfect dish for her perfect day: Sweet Bean Soup. It wasn't exactly a breakfast, but it was Bernadetta's day, so it can be whatever she wants.

Sweet Bean Soup is both filling and delicious, you can feel the way it melts on the tongue. And the soup at the Monastery was the best, much better than whatever Bernadetta could cobble together.

There was a sort of bliss in enjoying something alone. You could really enjoy the taste and it created a sort of solidarity with the chef. You could feel the entire process, from the beans being harvested to the food being processed.

Now, Bernadetta's usual strategy is to get to the mess hall early, since there are fewer people there. Unfortunately, that strategy has always failed since by the time she managed to force herself outside, the hall was usually full. And today didn't appear to be any different.

The Dining Hall was for everyone in the Garreg Mach Monastery, from the Officer's Academy to the faculty to the general priests. This meant that during mealtimes, it was chaos. The ravenous students were merciless to their peers to get their breakfast.

Bernadetta was never good at getting to the front of the mob, so she resigned herself to whatever was leftover. "Goodbye, my beloved Sweet Bean Soup," Bernadetta quietly lamented to herself."

And it didn't seem like there would be any empty tables, so she would probably have to sit on the ground. Some noble she was, the other students would probably laugh at how pathetic she was.

Bernadetta resigned herself to her fate by trying to worm her way through the line, hoping she could at least get something. It was even harder since Bernadetta was one of the shortest students at the Monastery, so she had no idea if she was going in the right direction. In fact she was probably getting pushed back more often than going forward.

"Bernadetta," A deep voice called from behind her, causing Bernadetta to jump with shock.

"Hello there, Hubert," Bernadetta responded, not quite looking him in the eyes. Hubert was actually terrifying. He never really talked with Bernadetta outside of their classes, since she usually avoided him. And he always seemed displeased when she saw him, probably thinking that Bernadetta was a disappointment. She couldn't blame him, seeing as Lady Edelgard was practically forced to have Bernadetta in her house due to Bernadetta's crest. The heir-apparent probably didn't think much of Bernadetta, and by extension, neither did her retainer.

"Getting breakfast, are you?" Hubert asked, with his never changing monotonous tone. Bernadetta quickly nodded, hoping that she wouldn't bother him too much, also curious on what he wanted with her. Hubert seemed satisfied with that, and gazed off toward the counter that served the food.

"Move," Hubert told the student in front of him, and the student was about to say something, but then saw that it was Hubert, and decided against it. This continued until the students had formed a path for the retainer.

Bernadetta envied his ability to get what he wanted (and so simply too!), but supposed it was natural for someone like him. Hubert started through his gap, when he stopped for a minute.

"Come along, Bernadetta," He motioned to follow him, and after a brief moment for Bernadetta to realize that she was Bernadetta, she rushed to make sure she wasn't going to keep him too long.

Hubert got two of the Sweet Bean Soups (somehow balancing them on a tray), probably for his lady and himself, and Bernadetta managed to snag one too. Maybe today wouldn't be too bad.

"Lady Edelgard, I have procured our breakfast," Hubert informed his liege, which caused Bernadetta to almost drop her meal since she was lost in thought about where to sit that she didn't realize that the future emperor was _right there_.

"Excellent, Hubert, I also managed to secure two coffees," Edelgard praised, before noticing the tiny Black Eagle who was doing her best to hide behind a bowl, "Bernadetta! How rare to see you on a Sunday! How are you?"

Bernadetta mumbled that she was good, again not being able to look the heir-apparent in the eye. Edelgard was magnificent. She was so confident and strong. And on the battlefield, Edelgard could storm through the enemy lines, unlike Bernadetta who could only pick off stragglers from a safe distance. Edelgard was everything Bernadetta wasn't, and she also terrified Bernadetta much in the same way her retainer did.

"You should sit with us, although I must apologize. I didn't know you would be joining us, so I don't have a drink for you,"

"It's okay, I don't like coffee, too much," Bernadetta mumbled, but it didn't seem Edelgard was convinced, "It's too bitter."

Edelgard seemed to agree since she nodded along, "Isn't it? I always need to add some sugar or milk before it becomes drinkable,"

"You can hardly call it coffee after how much you put in," Hubert chided, but he was smiling, which was a new sight for Bernadetta. Somehow the two had already gotten Bernadetta to sit at their table. Bernadetta figured she would just eat in silence, but it was probably better than letting them see her eating on the ground because she was too scared to sit next to someone.

The retainer and liege were close, Bernadetta noted, possibly due to growing up together. Edelgard always had this untouchable aura around her but it faded away, and Hubert had a dour expression, but he seemed comfortable for once. It reminded her of a romance she read between a lady and her retainer, and she could almost picture her two companions in that. She caught herself before going too far, since it would be rude to them, but still felt a little jealous that they both had someone like that.

"Are you enjoying your meal?" Edelgard asked, which caught Bernadetta off guard, since she was sure they wouldn't bother with her. After all, it was probably just pity that had them invite her.

"I like it," Bernadetta mumbled into her soup. She wasn't sure why she downplayed it, considering it was her favorite.

"I quite like it too," Edelgard agreed, "It has just the right amount of sweetness,"

"It goes well with the bread too," Bernadetta added, possible carried away that her house leader agreed with her, "The subtle sweetness and the texture of the beans go well together," Bernadetta realized that she was probably rambling and decided to stop before the others became uncomfortable, "Sorry."

"No, that was well put," Edelgard reassured her, putting a hand on Bernadetta's shoulder.

"You're quite knowledgeable, do you cook?" Hubert asked Bernadetta, which caused her to look at her very interesting soup to hide the burning feeling she felt on her face.

"A little," Bernadetta told them, thinking how Professor Byleth occasionally had her help him in the kitchen. "I'm not that good,"

"Nonsense," Edelgard told her, "You must let me try it one day,"

"Maybe," Bernadetta murmured, not as against it as she thought she would be.

The rest of the meal passed without incident, with Hubert and Edelgard carrying most of the conversation, and occasionally asking Bernadetta what she thought about some historical event that she had luckily read about in a novel. She wouldn't embarrass herself in front of those two anymore, she resolved. But she wasn't sure what she expected from the two. Maybe politics? It was strange how normal their conversation sounded. Bernadetta could even manage to follow along...

When Bernadetta finished her soup, she put away her plate, but Hubert and Edelgard were still eating. Before leaving, she felt like she should say something to the two of them.

"Thank you," Bernadetta managed, "for helping me get the soup and letting me sit with you," Edelgard and Hubert seemed a little surprised. Bernadetta started to panic, Maybe she wasn't supposed to do that and they thought she was weird. _Oh Bernie, look what you did_ , she moped to herself.

"Of course, it is only natural to help one of our valuable allies," Hubert informed Bernadetta, and it took a moment to realize that she meant her.

"And you must let us try your cooking, soon," Edelgard added, already planning it. She even set aside one of her valuable Sundays for it. Bernadetta probably wouldn't be able to get out of that, that might be considered treason.

After telling them that she must go since she needed to pick something up from the library, she managed to leave without feeling too awkward.

That wasn't how she planned her breakfast on going, but it wasn't too bad, Bernadetta mused afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Hubert is one of my favorites Pre-Release because I'm getting Kliff vibes from him, and Kliff was my favorite character in Echoes. Also it's canon that he has a handkerchief that he uses to chloroform people so I love it.
> 
> I feel like I wrote Edelgard too much like Dimitri, but I feel like there characters overlap a little... Either way she's wonderful and I can't wait to eliminate those who cling to unreasonable ideas of justice together
> 
> Edelgard and Bernadetta both like sweet foods and Bernadetta has a strength in cooking


	2. Petra

Books are wonderful, as everyone knows. They can be the path to fantastic worlds or a peek of an intimate moment between lovers or the keep of knowledge long forgotten. Their potential is limited only by one’s imagination, and that is kind of amazing.

But that isn’t why Bernadetta fell in love with reading. 

The real reason is because it doesn’t look strange to be alone if you are reading.

As a child, her parents thought she was lazy. After all, why else would a child actually prefer to stare listlessly out a window over going on a playdate? These strange tendencies just wouldn’t do for a child of the von Varley Family, and so her family tried to “fix” her by sending her off to play with kids her own age. 

But Bernadetta just couldn’t keep up with them. They all had so much energy, Bernadetta had no idea where they kept it. She basically forced herself to go along, counting the minutes until she could return to her home. 

And it always felt so drained afterwards. 

She would always recall her moments of “unnoblelike conduct” as her father would put it, (but she would refer to it as being awkward) and agonize on what would happen if her parents heard of it. Each time made her look forward to the next play date less and less.

But when she had started to learn how to read, her parents were more than supportive since it meant that their daughter wasn’t a complete failure. Apparently she learned pretty quickly, but Bernadetta wasn’t sure if it was really anything special. If anything, she just kept trying since she wasn’t really doing much else. 

Besides, Bernadetta liked the stories. They were full of the magic that books can hold. They were interesting, so she didn’t need to rely on her own thoughts for entertainment like before.

But eventually she noticed that when she was reading, no one would complain about her asocial tendencies. Because it seemed like she was doing something important, no one minded that she secluded herself. 

Reading is something everyone does alone. Reading with another person is a pain, because then both parties need to wait for the other to finish a page, which completely interrupts the flow.

Either way, being alone can seem acceptable if you happen to have a book in your hands.

She was finally being accepted for something she liked doing. Bernadetta just couldn’t explain how much that meant to her.

But most novels are read once and put on the shelf for a newer replacement, and Bernadetta was no exception. Her next stop was the local Garreg Mach Monastery Library TM (Available at your nearest Garreg Mach Monastery).

It was a fine enough library, quiet and a good selection, Bernadetta would prefer if it had self-checkout, but it was still a good 4 stars. And since it was a Sunday morning, the Library was mostly empty, for obvious reasons.

So perfect for Bernadetta.

She just needed to grab the two books she had her eye on and could get outta there to read them in the privacy of her dorm.

Quick and Simple.

The first was a sequel for a book she had recently read. It seemed to be the usual historical epic trash (which she was a sucker for), but it surprised her with a well thought out plot and morally gray characters. But it suddenly ended with almost the entire cast betrayed and dying. Now she had to find the next one which involved the next generation dealing with the empire that the main character of the first book accidentally helped create. 

Her other book happened to be an anthology of nature poems by her favorite author. She might have already read it a hundred times, but it always felt nice to go back to reading it every once in a while. The Author had such a way with words, it was entrancing. It had a quality that always made you always want more. 

And the Author just seemed to get it. Those internal musing and conclusions drawn only to those who just watch.

It may have had its flaws, but it was dear to Bernadetta’s heart.

It even made her want to try her hand at poems. Fortunately those would never see the light of day. Especially after that one time with Casper. 

Now, most people would ask a librarian for help if they wanted to find something, but Bernadetta prefered to look for it herself. Her reasoning was that she might stumble upon an interesting book. Definitely not because she’d rather not ask for help, no sirree.

But occasionally it led to Bernadetta finding things that she didn’t want to find.

For instance, at a rather secluded table sat her classmate Petra, who was reading a book.

And not just any book, but Bernadetta’s book.

Well, it was technically the library’s, but it was that anthology that Bernadetta wanted to borrow. She had seen it so many times that she could tell the cover from the distance. But the larger issue was that the library didn’t stock too many of that particular tome. It was the only one.

Now, she had two options. One: Politely ask if she could borrow the book instead, or Two: Find a different book.

Obviously she chose the latter, since Bernadetta had already read it, so maybe it was a sign that she should find a new book. Besides, Petra was already reading it, anyways.

But Petra, Bernadetta mused to herself as she stalked the aisles of books, Petra was really amazing. She was still learning the language of Fódlan, yet she was reading such an advanced book. Bernadetta needed a dictionary on hand to decipher half of the poems in that. 

Petra was so smart and serious, as befitting a princess of Brigid. Everything she did was effortless. Admittedly she may struggle with grammar, but learning an entire language in such a short period is no easy feat. 

And even in battle, it was like she danced with her blade. She was probably even better than Bernadetta with a bow... 

So obviously the princess wanted nothing to do with Bernadetta.

Petra was always moving, learning, growing. She was always improving herself. 

It made Bernadetta feel guilty. 

There she was, locked away in her dorm. If her parents knew… Bernadetta decided not to think about that.

Then again, she was going to school like they expected! She wasn’t slacking off, so she deserved lazy Sundays like this!

But maybe not around Petra, Bernadetta decided, it was unfair and a little wrong when the princess was trying so hard.

Luckily, Petra didn’t notice the tiny noble, being so engrossed in the anthology. And why wouldn’t she? It was Bernadetta’s favorite for a reason. Bernadetta hummed in agreement of her good taste.

So there she was, having found the other book, and on the hunt for another to soothe her heartbreak (of being unable to reread her favorite), when she heard a curious slamming sound, along with a tirade that Bernadetta just couldn’t make out. Bernadetta eventually traced it back to the table that Petra was reading at, and apparently she was speaking her native language.

Now, to less refined ears, it may sound like Petra was violently cursing, but Bernadetta simply appreciated the beautiful language from a distance. 

Also Petra was scary.

“-and the book is horrible too!” Petra ranted, which caused Bernadetta’s sight to flash red.

“What are you talking about?” Bernadetta shouted, leaving her hiding spot to confront the much taller girl, which causing the princess to take a get up and take a step back in surprise, before regaining her previous attitude.

“This author is unnecessary cryptic! The meaning is lost in all needless imagery.” Petra fired back, her hands digging into the table.

“It’s supposed to add ambiguity to make it a more universal theme!” Bernadetta countered. She always like open endings. Maybe not everything needs to be a certain way.

“It is to condescend. The words are obscure for no purpose!” The Princess added, which caused the tiny Black Eagle to relent, but only for a moment.

“So what if you need to use a dictionary to look up something! If the author thinks that word is the best for that sentence, then it just adds to the meaning!” Bernadetta would’ve gone on, but the Librarian finally found the source of the noise and decided to kick them out.

But during the walk of shame out of the library, Bernadetta cooled down and took a moment to realize that she had yelled at an actual princess. 

_ Seiros  _ _ strike me down, _ Bernadetta whispered, thinking about how dumb she must have looked. What noble gets into a shouting match with a Princess over a stupid book. Coming to the library was a mistake.

_ And Petra, oh Petra. She probably hates me now! What should I do?  _ Bernadetta was plagued with those thoughts, before coming to a decision.  _ Well I should at least apologize. _

When the disapproving Librarian finished escorting them out, there was an awkward silence until Bernadetta could work up the nerve to apologize.

“I am sorry,” Petra apologized, beating Bernadetta to the punch.

“N-No, it was my fault,” Bernadetta tried to placate her.

“The book is important for you, correct?” Petra asked, and Bernadetta gave a small nod, “I was frustrated because it was difficult to me to understand.” Petra did have a hard time understanding idioms and subtext in the Fódlan language, so maybe poems weren’t the best idea for her, Bernadetta reflected.

“It was hard for me at first too,” Bernadetta tried to sympathize, “why don’t you use a dictionary?”

Petra blushed a little before admitting, “It would be too embarrass,” She continued after seeing Bernadetta’s look of disbelief, “I do not want to look like I still need help,”

“It’s fine, isn’t it? That’s how you are supposed to read?” Bernadetta wasn’t ashamed to admit that she still used a dictionary. Otherwise, if the author used a phrase she was unfamiliar with, she would fixate on what it could possibly mean.

“I am still learn the language, I need to catch up. I need to represent my people, I can not be look down on.”

“I know that feeling,” Bernadetta mentioned, eliciting a rare smile from the princess.

“But what I am really surprised is that you yelled at me,” the Princess joked, but it only caused Bernadetta to try and hide her face. “You are always very quiet, but you were quite passionate.” Petra grinned as she continued to tease the smaller girl.

“Stoooop,” Bernadetta whined, but she couldn’t help but smile. She might not have gotten her book, but this was okay too.

Although she wasn’t really sure what to do now, since her afternoon plans were moot without a book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... writing Petra is hard. How am I supposed to know how someone who is learning English talks? Mad Props to IS for actually doing it properly.
> 
> Anyways, Petra looks really cool, but I really wish we knew more about her. Literally all we know is that she is serious and foreign. 
> 
> But I'll probably love Ike's true successor cuz Im a sucker for the Black Eagles. And this is kind of spoilery, but I'm really looking forward to one of her supports with a certain Male Black Eagles.


	3. Dorothea

Dorothea was alone.

There was this uncrossable divide between the nobles and the few commoners at the Officer’s Academy. The arrogant nobles loved to flaunt their highborn status at her, and her own birth was there, but in subtext. There were kinder nobles, of course, but their carefully curated friendships formed over a lifetime of court politics never included her. 

At least most of the Black Eagles belonged to the latter camp (Ferdinand Who?), but it still didn’t change the fact that she was only commoner among the elite of Adresita’s youngest generation. These guys were the descendants of the Saints for crying out loud! They would probably go on to become the Inner Circle of the Emperor or big shots in the Army.

Just being a good singer didn’t feel like it was worth much next to them.

Then again, she was a really good singer…

Why did she bother thinking of that anyways? It was Sunday! Today was supposed to be a fun day! Professor Manuela had invited her to tea so they could talk about the good times at the Mittelfrank Opera Company!  _ THE Manuela! _

To pass time until then, she had planned on observing the Monastery’s choir practice. Listening to music felt soothing, almost nostalgic. Unfortunately some jerks decided she couldn’t even have that.

“Look at Arnult,” A pompous voice said from behind her, loud enough for the songstress to hear. “Probably judging the choir.” Dorothea told herself to ignore it, that they weren’t worth it. It was the right thing to do, but why was it always so hard!

“Bet she’s laughing at them in her head,” Someone else agreed.

“What a show-off! She should learn her place,” Another noble added, which led Dorothea down that spiral of self-loathing from earlier.

It was so stupid! 

She wished she could sing with them, but she probably wouldn’t be welcome there.

She wasn’t really welcome anywhere here.

Sure Dorothea was friendly with everyone, but she didn’t think there was anyone at the Officer’s Academy who would call her their friend. She was sitting here alone, after all.

She couldn’t even sing: her only talent.

Maybe she should’ve stayed-

_ No _ , she told herself as she slapped her face, leading to a couple of shocked looks from a few onlookers.  _ Don’t think like that _ . 

She decided to watch with renewed vigor, or at least she was going to, but then she changed her mind when she saw Bernadetta, who must have entered when she wasn’t looking.

Bernadetta was so tiny and adorable! Look at how she struggles to find a place to sit, the panicky movements reminded Dorothea of a mouse.

“Bernie!” After hearing the noble refer to herself with that nickname, Dorothea couldn’t not use it. It was absolutely perfect! “Come, sit over here,” She waved her over and patted the area next to her on the bench, her feelings lifted that someone was here.

Although it did hurt when she saw the tiny girl flinch when she called out to her. Dorothea reminded herself that Bernie was like this with everyone, and she shouldn’t take it personally, but those were just words in the end.

Bernie scanned the crowd for a pew devoid of people, which was hard in the Monastery (There wasn’t much else to do on Sundays), before giving up and plopping herself next to the songstress.

The choir was taking a break, since they just finished a song, so Dorothea decided to go for a conversation. 

“So, Bernie,” The girl still wouldn’t look her in the eyes, “I didn’t think you liked this sort of thing. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you here,”

“I didn’t really have anything else to do…,” Bernadetta answered.

Dorothea nodded in understanding, “There isn’t, is there? But why here? I thought you’d like to stay in your room,” 

“Library,” The one word answer wasn’t much, but it was something to go off of. Bernadetta’s love of books was an open secret, even though she tried to keep everything about herself secret. Dorothea never understood why though.

“So you wanted to borrow a book from the library and then came here to listen?” Dorothea extrapolated, earning a small nod, and Dorothea couldn’t help but smile. She always loved how music could unite all sorts of people, and it seemed that Bernadetta was no exception. However, there was something wrong with the explanation. “But why don’t you have any books with you?”

“-ed out,” Bernadetta mumbled, and Dorothea could barely catch the end.

“I’m sorry, what? I couldn’t hear the last bit,”

“I got kicked out,” This time loud enough for Dorothea to hear.

Just the thought of the meek Bernadetta doing something to get kicked out of a Library was so unexpected that Dorothea just had to laugh.

This may not have been the best idea, since the younger girl decided to hide her embarrassment by doing her best impression of an armadillo rolling into a ball.

“I’m sorry,” Dorothea apologized, wrapping the purple haired girl in a light hug, “I didn’t mean to offend, it was just such a perplexing though, I couldn’t help but laugh.” If Bernadetta had any complaints, she didn’t voice them. In fact, Dorothea was pretty sure Bernie was using the hug to hide her blushing face. 

Absolutely adorable.

Bernadetta never really liked talking too much, preferring non-verbal gestures instead, so Dorothea tried to communicate in kind.

Which meant hugs. Lot of hugs.

Bernie never seemed to know what to do during a hug. She would always get surprised and flinch before just awkwardly standing there, as if not understanding why someone would want to embrace her. It was heartbreaking, which just made Dorothea want to hug her more. Bernie will get used to affection if it is the last thing she does, Dorothea vowed.

Eventually Bernie decided to come out of hiding, so Dorothea decided it might be safe for another round of small talk.

“Do you like listening to music?” It was a pretty obvious ‘yes’, because who doesn't like music? Besides, it was probably a safer question than last time.

Bernadetta gave a small nod; it reminded the songstress of a cat.

“Me too, it reminds me of the good times at the Opera company,” Dorothea told her. Even if she wasn’t the one singing, it reminded her that there were others who shared her goals. It let her know she wasn’t alone. Dorothea just couldn’t not smile when she saw someone doing their best at it! “It can really soothe your soul, get all the stress out.”

“Yeah,” Bernadetta agreed, her eyes finally relaxing, “If I was ever having a bad day, sometimes I would play a piece I liked on the piano and I could just forget about it,”

“Eh?,” Dorothea caught onto some very important information, “You play the piano! You should’ve told me! We could do a duet sometime! You have to play something for me!”

“No,” Bernadetta protested, again retreating into her shell, “I’m not talented like you-”

“Talent, Shmalent!” Dorothea was not letting this chance slip away. She put her hands on the other girl’s shoulders, forcing Bernadetta to look at her, “It’ll be fun even if we sound like a dying goat!”

“M-Maybe, I’ll think about it” Bernadetta conceded. Dorothea decided to take it as a victory, even if it seemed a little half hearted on Bernie’s side. At least she didn’t seem that against the idea. Besides, music was better when you were with someone else. The sense of unity and accomplishment when you finally get everything right in the end just can’t be beat. 

“Thanks, Bernie,” Dorothea told her, and gave her another large hug. 

Dorothea did catch that little smile on Bernadetta’s face.

Their conversation came to a close, when the choir finished their break to practice one more time, and the two of them listened in appreciative silence. 

Dorothea wasn’t sure what Bernadetta thought of it, since the songstress was more focused on the song and only noticed during the next break, but Bernadetta probably didn’t hate it too much.

For one she was actually smiling. 

Not those shy half smiles that she would try to hide. Not one of those forced smiles she used when she was uncomfortable.

Just a genuine, relaxed smile.

It was nice.

It may have been better to watch from afar, but it was too late, Dorothea was already messing up the hair on her unbrushed head. 

“We should do something with your hair,” Dorothea remarked as she ran her hand through a few knots.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, I just feel like we could do something more with it,”

“Like what?”

“I dunno, maybe a ponytail?” Dorothea suggested, and tried to pull the smaller girl’s hair into the shape. 

“It doesn’t really matter! Besides, this is less work,”

“It’s not about the work! It just looks nice,” Dorothea tried, “Isn’t there anything you’ve ever wanted to try?”

After a moment of resignation, Bernadetta took a moment to think. “Could we maybe do a bun?” Bernadetta offered hesitantly, even though Dorothea had explicitly asked her.

“Of course! Although maybe a small one,” Dorothea wasn’t sure if they could with Bernadetta’s bob cut, but you never know unless you try! 

But eventually the practice ended, and the spectators decided there was nothing left to do but leave.

Dorothea was starting to get up, when she noticed that Bernadetta looked uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” Dorothea asked, a little concerned that maybe she had overstepped some boundary with the timid girl earlier.

“Nothing!” Bernadetta said a little too quickly, and was she trying to hide in the pew? 

“Are you sure?” Dorothea inquired, her concern only increasing because Bernadetta nodded frantically before shooting a scared glance, which rang a lot of alarm bells in Dorothea’s head. Was Bernie okay?

While she was fretting over Bernadetta, an unwelcome guest sneered from behind them, “Well, qell, look who we have here.” Oh Goddess, of all times, one of those stuck up nobles have to come now. Well Dorothea had more important things to deal with, but that noble didn't seem to care, “What’s a cryptid like you doing out of hiding?”

Bernadetta grabbed the hem of Dorothea’s skirt, which was when Dorothea realized that the noble wasn’t taunting her, but her classmate. And then Dorothea saw red.

“The rare ‘Disappointment of the von Varleys’!” Bernadetta had a vice grip on Dorothea’s skirt at this point. Dorothea was about 5 second from slapping someone.

“Nothing to say, like usual?” Another noble laughed. Do they all move in packs?

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Dorothea snapped, “Bernadetta can do whatever she wants! She was handpicked by Lady Edelgard, y’know! You ought to watch your mouth!”

Whether because they were scared of Lady Edelgard, or because Dorothea was making a scene, the tormentors ran with their tails between their legs.

Unfortunately, Bernadetta was still clutching Dorothea’s skirt.

“It’s okay, they’re gone now,” Dorothea reassured, stoking the back of her friend’s head.

“I’m sorry,” Bernadetta apologized, which irked Dorothea a bittle bit.

“Why? What’d you do wrong?”   
“I hate it! I hate them! I shouldn’t have someone else stand up for me,” Bernadetta had tears in her eyes, it made Dorothea wish she could’ve hit them with a good thunder. They may still be in range...

“Oh, Bernie,” Dorothea purred, “I didn’t do it for you. Someone was badmouthing my friend, so I gave them a piece of my mind. You didn’t make me do anything.”

Bernadetta looked conflicted, but she looked less skittish, so that was something. 

And then she pulled Dorothea for a hug.

Dorothea thought she was hallucinating.  _ Bernadetta  _ of all people! Today should be made a holiday! It took a second for Dorothea to actually remember to do something with her own arms.

“Thanks,” Bernadetta mumbled, which made Dorothea smile so hard that her face started to hurt.

“Anytime.”

Once she cooled down, Bernadetta got embarrassed and refused to look up as the left the place of prayer, but it was too late! Dorothea would never forget that!

They had to go their separate ways, but Dorothea wasn’t done. “Tell me if they ever pick on you again! I tell Edelgard and they’ll be quivering in their boots!”

“No… Don’t. I don’t want to bother her,”

“Oh relax,  _ Edelgard _ won’t do a thing. They’ll just  _ mysteriously  _ disappear from the academy.”

Bernadetta gave a small chuckle from the joke, and actually played along, “So she’ll get Hubert to do it?”

“Basically, yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I did a different perspective this time...
> 
> Ngl, Bernie would probably shriek and hide from Dorothea in the actual game, but that feels too much like the first chapter so nah.
> 
> And as much as I love the JoJo memes, can we talk about her dislikes? I need to know what happened to her! The wait is killing me!
> 
> Dorothea and Bernadetta both like music. Dorothea also likes small animals sooooooooo


	4. Caspar and Linhardt

Hobbies are very expensive.

Bernadetta couldn’t count how much money she sank into her various activities. From parchment, ink, ingredients, paintbrushes, yarn, cloth, collectables, and everything else, Bernadetta never had too much for long. 

The Church and the Professors did give her a salary for participating in battles, but it just wasn’t enough. And asking her parents for an allowance was not an option, so Bernadetta had to carefully budget and ration her meager scraps.

After carefully calculating and planning, Bernadetta had gotten her purchases down to a T. And it was no easy feat. Cross-checking stores inventories and shipments; planning fallbacks in case that didn’t work; finding the best price; None of that was easy, but it was worth it to Bernadetta.

She finally had some freedom at the monastery, even if only a day, so she would do it right.

But somehow the meticulous planning was the easy part. The other part was weekly trips to the marketplace, a place she detested with all her being. All the loud people, jostling through the crowds. And the pushy shopkeepers! It was truly an introvert’s worst enemy.

But the worst was the actual shopping. 

Part of the process involves haggling, where Bernadetta was hopeless. It was hard to say no when they were screaming about how they wouldn’t go any lower. Bernadetta never really liked arguing. It always made her feel bad. And they were like sharks! The moment they smelled blood, the would circle around her! It’s actually terrifying! 

Now most of the time, she would ask Professor Byleth to go shopping for her. He would do anything for a reward, and most of the time it was just fishing bait. What a strange man. Admittedly, Bernadetta was hesitant about having someone know what she did, or how much she spent, but the shopping district was actually terrifying. 

But it was the only way to save enough money to stay on budget, so Bernadetta had to deal with it.

But today was an issue, since she couldn’t find Professor Byleth. 

She couldn’t find him earlier, and while she was searching, she unconsciously went into the Church because she was distracted, so that ate up her time. Now, she figured, it was probably time to give up and do it herself.

So taking a deep breath, Bernadetta steeled herself for that goddess forsaken market.

She regretted it immediately.

Some patron was waving her hands to prove some point to a vendor and managed to smack Bernadetta with the back of her hand. This led to Bernadetta freezing, which almost made another shopper run into her. And then she had to listen to him explain how she was a failure and how he could have dropped his chicken and how Bernadetta would have had to pay for it.

Bernadetta wanted to curl up and cry.

Deciding it was best to take a strategic draw back to assess the situation, Bernadetta retreated to a nearby tree for cover. The tree was safe. No one was here to bother Bernadetta. It was a safe haven for tortured souls such as her...

“Hey, Bernadetta!” 

A voice cut through her serenity as Bernadetta turned to find the Black Eagles equivalent of a chiwawa. 

“What’s up?” Caspar smiled at Bernadetta, so Bernadetta did the natural thing and took a step back.

“Nothing, it doesn’t matter, really!” Bernadetta insisted, mostly to get away from him. Caspar wasn’t intimidating like most Adrestian Nobles sent to the academy, but he was really tiring. He was one of those balls of energy that Bernadetta just couldn’t handle. And Bernadetta would tire out pretty quickly, and then just get dragged along with those people who just couldn’t take a hint! (Although sometimes it wasn’t too bad, but it really depends on the person. Dorothea, for instance, was always very considerate. Or at least tried to be.) 

Also he was a simpleton! He couldn’t keep his mouth shut or keep a sense of distance if his life depended on it. It was like he had never heard of personal space!

“Really, that’s weird. I was actually surprised to see you! You’re never out of your room, anyways!” Caspar noted with innocent insensitivity, completely unaware of his scathing review in Bernadetta’s mind.

“N-No! Why does it even matter?”

“Well, y’know, us members of the SALT gotta stick together!”

“The what?” As much as Bernadetta wanted to get out ASAP, she also felt like severing whatever imaginary connection Caspar thought they had.

“The Society Against Liking Tallness? You, me, and Edelgard. Got to look out for each other?” Caspar tried to remind Bernadetta despite this all being completely new to her.

“That’s not a thing!” Bernadetta was perfectly comfortable with her height! Sure it was a struggle to find things to stand on, and she needed to tilt her head to talk with most people, and it was easy to get lost in a crowd, and it felt like everyone was looking down on her, but a small body was a smaller target on the battlefield. Also short people live longer, so suck on that tallies! But that wasn’t the biggest issue! “Why is Lady Edelgard in the club!?” Bernadetta asked, genuinely fearing for Caspar’s life.

Caspar looked at Bernadetta with a patronizing look, which bothered Bernadetta more than it should have, “Well, even though she wears those heels, she isn’t that much taller than you.”

“Everyone knows the Heir-Apparent is sensitive about her height! We’re not supposed to mention it!”

“It’s fiiiiiiiiine! How’s she going to know? She’s not here anyways,” Caspar waved off Bernadetta’s concerns while she checked the surroundings for a Hubert shaped shadow, “Besides, we’re all in the same boat! It’s like solidarity ‘n stuff.”

“I’m not a part of your inane club!” Bernadetta hissed at him, causing Caspar to take a step back.

“Whoa, are you mad at me? Did I do something?”

“No! I’m not, just leave me alone!”

“No, you’re definitely pissed at something… What do you think Linhardt?” He turned to Linhardt who had a hand to his chin in a pondering pose.

“Wha- When did you get here!?” Bernadetta asked, having only just noticed the long haired boy. 

“Well, Caspar came running when he saw you, but I actually walked at a reasonable pace, so a little before Caspar decided to commit treason,” Linhardt answered, before turning his attention to Caspar, “And to answer your question, it’s probably because you were eavesdropping when she was waxing poetry last week.”

Bernadetta felt her blood freeze with that last sentence, “How did you know about that?”

“Oh, well I was napping, when Caspar frantically woke me up… He was really excited and told me about how he found something amazing. That he had run into you reading poetry and apparently it was really good and you apparently wrote it. Then he told me it was a secret and that he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone- Oh. Whoops.”

“Linhardt! What the heck!” Caspar shouted, but he wasn’t as mad as Bernadetta.

“Caspar! You said you wouldn’t tell anyone!” Bernadetta felt her fists clenched as her secret had spread onto another person. This was exactly what she was afraid of when Caspar found her. As bad as it was that someone overheard her awful poetry, Caspar was the absolute worst since soon all the Black Eagles would know about it.

“Bernadetta!” Linhardt half shouted, and decided to explain when the two looked at him with perplexed expressions, “I just wanted to join in…”

“Dude…” Caspar scolded Linhardt even though it was entirely his own fault, “Look Bernadetta, I’m sorry. But I swear it was only Linhardt! I haven’t told a single soul outside of him!”

“Besides, me and Caspar are like a package deal. If you’ve told him, you’ve basically told me,” Linhardt half-heartedly defended.

“Not. Helping.” Caspar shot Linhardt a glare, before turning back to Bernadetta, “Seriously! I’ll do anything to make it up! Just say the word!”

“No, it’s fine...” Bernadetta gave up, it was hard to be mad Caspar was trying so hard, “Just please don’t tell anyone else…”

“I can’t do that! I need to do something to apologize… Is there anything you need? I can help with some verses if you ever need help?” Caspar offered, only to receive a frustrated sigh from Bernadetta.

“Don’t! Mention! Them!” Bernadetta wanted to sew the boy’s mouth shut.

“But everyone here knows about it!?”

“Just never say anything about them! Ever!”

“Then what can I do? I won’t rest until I’ve made this up to you! I’ll be at your side 24/7 until I’ve redeemed myself!” Caspar was trying to do good, but it sounded like the worst possible threat for Bernadetta.

“Let me think for a second,” Bernadetta compromised, mostly to figure out how to get away from this kid. She ran through various plans, like how quickly she could run away, but nothing was concrete enough to avoid seeing him again.

“Were you planning on going shopping, Bernadetta?” Linhardt chimed in again, probably noticing how they were right next to the marketplace. When Bernadetta nodded, he gave a hum of agreement, “We were planning on going too, until we ran into you.”

“Aha! I got it! I’ll pay for whatever you’re buying! Is that alright?” Caspar was basically in Bernadetta’s face, which made her more than uncomfortable.

“I guess that’ll work,” She said, pushing him back to arms length. Bernadetta’s finances were tight this month anyways. She wasn’t in any position to refuse this charity.

“Cool, I’ll take a quick nap. Tell me when you are done.” Linhardt finger gunned at them was about to walk away when Caspar grabbed him by the collar.

“Not so fast! You started all this. You’re coming with me.” Caspar told him.

“Well, you’re the one who broke your promise so it is kind of all on you,” Linhardt decided to backtrack when he saw the angry chiwawa’s face that looked ready to explode. “Fine… whatever. You’ll probably need help since you can’t see over the crowd’s heads anyways.”

That resulted in a rant from Caspar that conveniently took as much time as the commute to actually return to the market, which was nice since Bernadetta finally had some time to herself to think. 

She felt a little guilty about someone else paying for her, but it was kind of his fault. Besides, it wasn’t as if her meager savings wouldn’t appreciate it. But she should probably only buy some necessities this time. 

Bernadetta made a mental list of what she needed: Some parchment, a few extra quills, some yarn, and maybe check the patterns to see if anything would catch her eye. That should be enough for a week.

“So, where do we need to go first?” Linhardt asked, but his yawn made it sound like he just wanted to get it over with quickly. 

Bernadetta didn’t really want people to know what she did in her freetime, lest they scold her for not being more productive, but she doubted that Linhardt would really be in that position. So she felt it was okay to tell her her shopping list, but he didn’t really know what patterns were.

Bernadetta didn’t mind Linhardt, to be honest. He did his own thing and she did hers. He never got too close, nor was he intimidating. He was fine on his own.

But the issue was when he was with Caspar. For some reason, the professors in the academy thought that Linhardt reined in the short noble, but it was actually the opposite. Linhardt was an enabler for all the dumb stuff Caspar got into.

Whenever Caspar had a bad idea, Linhardt either thinks it would be funny if Caspar actually did it or he might just not feel like stopping it. Either way, Caspar takes this as an endorsement and goes through with it with double the confidence.

Bernadetta wasn’t really sure how they got along, but they still had that strange friendship. Like Linhardt said, they were a package deal. It reminded her of one of her novels, where the leads are best friends and eventually grow into something more-

No. For the second time today, she had to chide herself that she shouldn’t fantasize about her classmates. It felt disrespectful, somehow.

But anyways, the first challenge would be the mob that foiled her earlier that day.

And then nothing happened.

Maybe it was because Caspar made angry faces at anyone who even came close to him, or because Linhardt was guiding them so they didn’t get lost in the crowd, but Bernadetta had nothing to complain about.

It was a nice change of pace. 

So finally they got to their first vendor who happened to sell parchment, quills, and ink.

“Guess I’m up,” Bernadetta mumbled, struggling to find the confidence. The seller’s eyes seemed to light up when he recognized her, probably remembering an easy target.

But not this time! She couldn’t let Caspar get over charged simply because she was a coward.

“You can do it, Bernie!” She quietly cheered herself as she faced her greatest enemy to date. “S-so how much for 50 sheets of parchment?”

“4000” The vendor’s gruff voice answered. That was too much! Bernadetta needed to say something.

“Oh, okay,” Bernadetta mentally screamed at herself as she chickened out. She would probably have to pay this one herself…

“What’re you talkin’ ‘bout pops! This aint worth more than 1000!” Caspar jumped in, ready to fight. Admittedly that was low-balling it, but it was more than Bernadetta could do. Bernadetta decided to let him fight this battle.

So that was how most of the shopping trip went: Bernadetta attempting to haggle, before Caspar jumps in to negotiate an actual fair price.

Her pride was hurt, but for once it wasn’t her wallet, so that was fine by her.

“C’mon Bernadetta, ya gotta show some fangs or those vultures are gonna eat you!” Caspar advised, but Bernadetta just gave a defeated sigh.

“I knooow, but when they are in my face, I just can’t think and I somehow end up agreeing!” Bernadetta explained, earning a disapproving tongue clicking from Caspar.

“Do you really pay this much each time?” Linhardt inquired.

“I usually get Professor Byleth to do it for me,”

“Ha, yeah! That guy’s great!” Caspar added, “Hopefully he doesn’t get lost in the woods like our old teach!”  
The next vendor was a textile vendor, and Linhardt was actually interested in it for once.

“Hey, look,” he elbowed his friend to point out a shirt that said, in big red letters, _Toad_. “You should get that!”

Caspar, for some reason that Bernadetta couldn’t fantom, thought this was hilarious and doubled over. “Yeah! Definitely!”

“But… why?” Bernadetta tilted her head as she asked, “We have to wear the uniform… It’s a waste.”

“It’s funny,” Linhardt said, as if that solved anything.

“It’s my money, I can do whatever I want!” Caspar defended, “In fact, I will buy it!” His resolve seemed to deepen, which was the opposite of what Bernadetta wanted.

“Do whatever you want.” Bernadetta gave up, and went through the usual process where she attempted to haggle.

But there was an issue when Caspar got to his shirt.

“I’m telling you, I can’t go any lower than 3000!” the shopkeep told Caspar, who was adamant that the price was unfair. “Do you even know how much it costs to make those things?”

Caspar seemed dumbfounded, and might have relented, but Bernadetta felt like she owed him.

“It’s not too hard… I could probably embroider it with some red thread and a clean shirt and you would get the same thing. It would take some time, but not really worth 3000. Don’t bother,” Bernadetta advised, and Caspar, armed with this new knowledge eventually did get the shirt at a fair price. 

Actually it was a bit cheaper than what Bernadetta thought was fair, Bernadetta noted with pride.

“Thanks, Bernadetta! Nice bluff!” Caspar gave her a clap on the back, but Linhardt shook his head.

“She bought materials for embroidering; she obviously wasn’t bluffing,” Linhardt deduced, which caused Caspar’s eyes to light up.

“So you actually can make this shirt! That’s so cool! Actually can you make me a shirt? Wait, you can do this and poems! You’re really amazing!”

“You said you wouldn’t talk about it!” Bernadetta objected, but she was also kind of mad that he was pitying her like that. Caspar didn’t really know anything about poems or handicrafts, so he had no idea what was amazing. She was mediocre at best, so all the praise felt hollow. “I’m not that good anyways…”

“But, like, I can’t do it at all! You really are talented!”

“Stoooop,” Bernadetta felt like hiding. It was hard to be mad at Caspar when he was always so earnest.

They continued, but that shirt wasn’t the only thing that caught Linhardt’s eye on the trip.

“That’s cool,” Linhardt pointed at a stuffed animal that was on display at a toy store.

“Yeah,” As much as it pained Bernadetta to admit it, since she had just talked about how useless that shirt was. But this had charm! It was of an extinct bird she had read about, called the Dodo bird. It was derpy looking, but Bernadetta felt a connection to it. And then someone decided to make a stuffed animal about it? Genius. Sure it was ugly, but it was also kind of cute in a way. 

“I don’t really see it, but if you guys are smart so if you say so it must be true,” Caspar nodded along.

“I’m really not that-”

“Don’t even start that,” Caspar cut her off, “You’re brilliant at writing!”

“You said you wouldn’t mention it anymore!”

“Oh, my bad.” Caspar looked apologetic for a second. “Hey, you know what, I’ll buy it for you!”

“No, no, no! I can’t have you do that!” Bernadetta flailed her hands, “That’s too much! Besides, you’ve more than made up for everything!”

“It’s more of a thanks, then! For helping me with haggling earlier. Like a gift from one friend to another!” Caspar tried to convince Bernadetta, but she was unconvinced. Gifts always had some hidden agenda. There was now such thing as a free lunch after all.

“Will you buy me one too, then?” Linhardt asked, causing Caspar to grumble.

“You’ve been useless the entire day,” Caspar told him off. But it warmed Bernadetta’s heart when he bought two of them anyways.

“Thanks,” Bernadetta told him, as she clutched the present to her chest, “Both of you, I mean. For everything today.”

“It wasn’t much,” Linhardt said with his signature lazy half smile, which led to a stream of protests from Caspar.

“Obviously! I did everything!” 

“Oh? Earlier you said this was all my fault though?”

“Yeah! But I’m the one who fixed it!”

Caspar and Linhardt bickered again, but Bernadetta felt herself smiling at their antics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you guys seen the snippet of Caspar and Linhardt's support on Youtube? It basically is them arguing that "my dad could beat up your dad" and I love it!
> 
> Linhardt is absolutely wonderful. He literally chides Caspar and then goes off to sleep. He goes at his own pace and I can respect that. He reminds me of Yugami from the manga Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai. It's really funny and I would recommend it!
> 
> Caspar sounds kind of like a generic shonen character, not that there is anything wrong with that. But I'm not really as hyped for him pre-release as the others. But to be fair, he is a Black Eagle, which automatically makes him better than the other house's students in my mind. And I had a lot of fun writing him this chapter!
> 
> Both Linhardt and Bernadetta like strange animals and stuffed animals


	5. Ferdinand

Today had been exhausting for Bernadetta.

It wasn’t even noon, but she already ran into most of her classmates. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it had taken a toll on Bernadetta’s social battery. She needed some time to herself to rest up and recharge.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say dealing with all those people today made her feel worse than the battles. She just felt empty.

But it was over! She had eaten her favorite; she had gone to the library (although she couldn’t get the book she wanted); she had gotten to listen to the choir practice; she had gotten supplies. Everything she had wanted to do was done!

Now she could just lie down for a bit, buuuut she kind of wanted to try writing something after this. Her head was just bursting with ideas! She needed to write them down somewhere before her inspiration faded. But she’d have to be quick, since she could already feel herself zoning out. Time was of the essence!

So of course someone decided to knock on the door.

“Bernadetta? Are you there?” A rather pompous voice pierced through the door, causing the girl to give a defeated sigh. She really didn’t want to deal with him today.

“Ferdinand, I’m busy. Come back later.” Bernadetta was bad with people, but there were 2 types of people that were the worst: Intimidating people and Energetic People.

Somehow, Ferdinand managed to check off both boxes.

“Really? What is it? Do you require assistance?” Ferdinand asked through the door. Bernadetta fumed a little on the inside. She didn’t want to talk right now! How hard was that to understand?

“Just let me rest for a bit,” Bernadetta yawned, which apparently Ferdiand took offense to.

“Bernadetta! It’s almost noon! You can’t waste the day like this!” He pushed on the door, causing a minor heart attack as realized she forgot to lock it. 

“Wait! Stop!” Bernadetta shouted upon realizing her mistake. She actually bolted from the desk to hold the door from opening. Thankfully she dodged the books she had laid haphazardly on the floor. It would be very unfortunate if she slipped on them. Then again, she knew this room like the back of her hand.

The dorm would never hurt her.

Ferdinand listened for some reason, and held back on entering. “May I come in?” He asked with all the politeness of a perfect gentlemen, befitting his noble status.

“No!” Bernadetta responded with a similar eloquence.

“You’re being unreasonable! We need to talk about your habits! It is most unbecoming of a noble to stay cooped up all day!” Ferdinand lectured, causing an eye roll from Bernadetta. He was the latest of those who wanted to “fix” her. Although he was more persistent than the rest of them. Also… more gentle? But that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t know what he was talking about. He would’ve been a lot more pleasant to be around if he wasn’t always harping on her.

“I wasn’t! I went out earlier!” Bernadetta shot back.

“Truly?” The surprise in his voice irritated Bernadetta more than it should have.

“Is it so hard to believe?”

“No, my apologies. I shouldn’t have assumed. Alright, but whenever you’re available I need to talk to you.” Ferdinand’s retreating footsteps could be heard from the other side.

Relief flooded through Bernadetta’s body at Ferdinand’s surrender. She actually could feel her muscles relax. “Uh, sure. Maybe later,” and with that Bernadetta practically skipped back to her desk.

Wait, was that book always there?

* * *

For some reason Bernadetta was not in her room. Also her head hurt. And for some reason, Ferdinand was sitting next to her bed, brows furrowed.

“Ferdinand?” Her voice was hoarse for some reason.

“Ah! Bernadetta! You’re awake! I must tell Professor Manuela the good news!” Ferdinand’s concern was replaced with his ever present smile as he got up, but Bernadetta needed some information.

“What happened?” Bernadetta asked, taking stock of her surroundings, but a curtain surrounded her bed. Ferdinand, probably knowing it would take a while, took a seat.

“Ah, it appears that after we finished conversing, you tripped on a book and hit your head-”

“My books betrayed me?”   
“Yes, yes. It was most fortunate that I was there, because as soon as I heard the noise, I went to investigate. I knew something was wrong when there was no protests when I entered. Then I saw your limp body and knew what I must do. For you see, I promptly carried you to the Infirmary with as much swiftness as my body could produce! Professor Manuela even commended me! She told me that because I got you to her so quickly, the damage wasn’t too bad and she could have right and ready very soon!”

“I can’t believe that after all those fights, a book is what does me in,” Bernadetta mumbled as she tried to hide under the blankets. What a disgrace. Ferdinand was probably laughing the entire time.

“Fret not, Bernadetta! Accidents happen all the time. In fact, there was this one time, back in my family’s mansion, where a similar situation occurred. You see, I have a fondness for suits of armor, I even own my very own collection! Now, one day, in my haste, I failed to notice that the weight of one set was off balance, and it almost fell on me!” Ferdinand tried to comfort, but failed after adding one last thing, “Fortunately, my reflexes proved more than adequate, and I managed to avoid any major injuries.” He nodded as if to show Bernadetta that he understood the issue.

“You’re terrible at sympathizing with people,” Bernadetta mumbled from underneath the covers which she would never leave.

“Really? Do you have any suggestions on where I can improve?” Ferdinand asked, genuinely expecting criticism.

“Well, maybe leave out the part where you ended up unhurt, which means that our situations have nothing in common.”

“But they were both caused by carelessness!?” Ferdinand protested, “Besides, wouldn’t that be lying?”

“Whatever…” Bernadetta gave in, not feeling like going down that particular rabbit hole. Ferdinand was hard to deal with in general. At first she thought he was scary (He was large and confident and very good with weapons), but later found out he was just annoying. Although just like Caspar, it was hard to hate him because he genuinely wanted to help her. Too bad he was too stubborn to realize that Bernadetta actually liked being alone. Also the fact he took every opportunity to try and change something about her.

“Anyways, Bernadetta, you must clean up your room! It was like a pigsty when I went in there!”

“I have a system, you know! It’s organized! What if I want to read it, but I’m not sure if I want to on a bed or at a desk? Ever thought about that?” In the heat of the moment, Bernadetta was sitting upright on the bed, instead of cowering from underneath the sheets, like before.

“Is that system why you tripped and fell?” Ferdinand taunted, with no actual malice.

“I was just a little tired,” Bernadetta defended, before realizing the implications of Ferdinand being in her room, “Wait… You didn’t look at anything in my room, did you?”

The noble looked at Bernadetta with a perplexed expression, “Of course not. I had to get you to Professor Manuela, remember?”

“Right, obviously…” Bernadetta conceded, while privately chiding herself. Why would Ferdinand try to read all of her embarrassing prose when she was knocked out. It was narcissistic of her to think that someone would take any chance to comb through it.

She’d still worry about it.

“But aren’t you lucky I was around?” Ferdinand nodded to himself, smug as always, “If you were alone in that situation, it could have been hours until someone found you! Isn’t it great when you aren’t alone? We can look out for each other!”

“The only reason I got hurt was because you were trying to break it! Otherwise I would’ve been fine…” Bernadetta pouted.

“By the goddess, you’re correct!” Ferdinand gasped in shock, lowering his head in shame, “It was never my intention… I’m so very sorry!”

“No, it wasn’t your fault,” Bernadetta tried to assuage, feeling guilty too, “I should’ve watched my step. Don’t blame yourself.”

There was a heavy atmosphere between the two, and Bernie blamed herself.  _ Look what you did, Bernie! _ The awkward silence persisted, until Ferdinand decided to break it.

“So… you mentioned how you were out earlier… what did you do?” He tried to recover the conversation with small talk… But Bernadetta hated small talk.

Although it was better than nothing, so she might as well take it.

“Let’s see,” Bernadetta reflected on her day, before coming to an unfortunate conclusion. “...On second thought, I actually don’t want to talk about it…” Bernadetta said, burying herself in her hands as if the shame she could hide from the shame.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Ferdinand ventured, but he had the same look in his eyes that he did in a battle. It scared Bernadetta a little bit, even though she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.

“No... I was just being pathetic as usual,”

“Now that isn’t true and you know it,” Ferdinand’s shoulders relaxed, but his expression changed from anger to concern.

“Isn’t it? I mean all I did was mess up today, and everyone else had to fix my mistakes,” Bernadetta moped, crawling into the sheets once more.

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Ferdinand asked, his hand scratching his chin.

“It was! First I had to rely on Hubert and Edelgard to even eat breakfast…” Bernadetta insisted as she ran through her day, ripping apart the passive girl who had to rely on her classmates do even the most basic of tasks. 

But for some reason, when she finished, Ferdinand was smiling.

“What’s so funny?” Bernadetta pouted. Here she was, laying her shameful actions bare, and this jerk had the audacity to mock her.

“No, Bernadetta, don’t you see? You’re not a burden, you simply have good friends who want to help you!” Ferdinand reassured her, but Bernadetta wasn’t convinced.

“Are we even friends? Aren’t you guys just nice to me because we’re all in the same class?” She mumbled from underneath the cool sheets.

“Of course we are! I mean, didn’t you have fun when you were with them?”

“Well, yeah…” Bernadetta conceded. She remembered how Edelgard wasn’t as untouchable as she thought; She recalled how Hubert looked out for her; how Petra and her may have had more in common than she thought; how Dorothea played with her hair; how Caspar tried to boost her confidence; how Linhardt would always get funny reactions out of Caspar… They were all good people, weren’t they?   
“Well then obviously they had fun with you! See, they didn’t help you out of obligation, they just did what was natural!” Ferdinand insisted, and Bernadetta guessed he might have had a point. It was eerily similar to what Dorothea had told her earlier.

“Doesn’t change the fact that I was the one recieving help the entire time,” Bernadetta moved on, a small part of her hating the fact that she was so weak. She liked her friends, so why was she the one who could never repay them?

“Well that’s just not true.” Ferdinand shook his head, “What about Petra?”

“What about Petra?” Bernadetta asked, no idea where this was going, “I blew up at her and then got us kicked out of the library. And then she apologized to me, even though I’m the one at fault!”

“I think you helped her understand that it is okay to not be perfect, or at least to borrow a dictionary” Ferdinand told her with complete sincerity.

“That’s a bit of a stretch.” Bernadetta countered, since that felt a little flimsy. She didn’t even do anything!

“Don’t be so hard on yourself! You’re a wonderful person and friend! Don’t deny the good you do!” Ferdinand told her, which made her face feel warm

“Stop…” Bernadetta pleaded, because she wasn’t really used to such direct complements. She wasn’t really sure what to do.

“No, I won’t! I’m not sure why you think that you don’t think you deserve such simple kindness, but never forget you have friends who would do anything for you, as long as you ask! You saw it today, didn’t you?” Ferdinand asked, getting up from his seat because of all the passion.

“I can accept kindness!” Bernadetta protested, trying to raise to his height, but she was still lying down in a bed so she could only sit up. But it was ridiculous that Ferdinand would think she couldn’t do something so basic.

“Oh, really?” He raised an eyebrow in disbelief which made Bernadetta infuriated.

“Obviously!”

“That’s the spirit! And don’t forget it!” Ferdinand had this infectious smile as he rubbed her head with pride. Bernadetta just gave up and accepted it. Besides, it was kind of nice. “Also sit up!” He added, “You’re posture is absolutely horrendous.”

Bernadetta groaned and rolled her eyes, “You always say one thing too much.”

“Really? What did I say?” Ferdinand stopped messing with her hair for a second to think.

Bernadetta laughed at his visible confusion, wiping away the tears of laughter. But there was a lot, almost as if she had been holding back other tears for a while.

Ferdiand was a good guy, even if he could be a little annoying. He might not be satisfied with how she acts, but that was only because he wanted her to be her best self. Now if only he could tone down the vanity a bit. 

And he was Bernadetta’s friend, so maybe she should do something for him? Just to not be on the receiving side of her friendships all the time.

And maybe as a sort of thanks…?

“Oh yeah, why did you come to my room earlier? You said you needed something,” Bernadetta asked, using that as a springboard to figure out what to do.

“Goodness! I forgot!” Ferdinand put his hand to his head in an over exaggerated motion, but it was probably just how he always did everything, “Bernadetta, do you perhaps recall one of our more recent conversations? You mentioned that talking to people was just a hobby and that different people have different preferences. Well, I had thought about, and I realized you were correct! So in order to understand the pleasures outside of socializing, I had thought it prudent to try one of your activities. In this case: literature. Unfortunately, I was completely lost, as I had no idea what to read. Therefore, I wanted your suggestions?”

“Pfft.” Bernadetta couldn’t hold back a small chuckle, “You’re so weird.”

“Bernadetta!?” Ferdinand asked dumbfounded. Usually Edelgard or Hubert poke fun at him like that, but it was the first time for the meek Bernadetta.

“I mean that in a good way! You’re too serious, but that’s kind of nice, in its own way,” Bernadetta reassured.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment, then?”

“Take it however you want,” Bernadetta gave a smirk, “Anyways, you’d probably like one of those classic ‘noble saves the kingdom’ stories,”

“Oooh! Yes, that sounds delightful!” Ferdinand eye’s lit up, and Bernadetta knew she struck gold.

“Well, I can think of a few off the top of my head…”

* * *

Eventually Professor Manuela had given Bernadetta the all clear to leave, since apparently the damage wasn’t too bad, it was mostly because Bernadetta was exhausted. Either way, she warned Bernadetta to take it easy for a bit.

But the tiny noble felt fine, so she headed back to her room. Unfortunately, she had a rather annoying tag along.

“I’m in perfect shape! I can at least walk to my room on my own!” Bernadetta complained to Ferdinand, who refused to leave her alone and insisted on walking her back to her dorm.

“Professor Manuela told you to be careful! Besides, what kind of noble would I be if I left the task half-finished? I must see this through until the end!” Ferdinand defended, pigheaded as always.

“Fine, but you can’t come into my room, alright?” Bernadetta conceded, because at least then he would leave her alone for her lazy Sunday.

Bernadetta hadn’t forgotten her day’s original goal, and while all the stuff had distracted her, she was looking forward to a relaxing day of knitting. She had gotten some interesting patterns at the market earlier, and she just couldn’t wait to try them out! 

But first, maybe a nap.

“Marvelous!” Ferdinand agreed, with that infectious smile.

They walked in silence, but Bernadetta didn’t think it was too bad, which was strange. Normally she always felt the need to fill it in, in case the other person thought she was boring. But it was comfortable this time, for some reason or another. Unfortunately, Ferdinand had to ruin it.

“But you have to admit that spending time with people was fun, right?” He goaded, apparently not having given up his idea of forcing Bernadetta to become more social, “You wouldn’t have had as much fun if you had stayed inside!”

“I guess, but only in moderation! It’s really draining, after all...” Bernadetta conceded, since he wasn’t wrong, but wasn’t right in the end. After all, Bernadetta had gotten injured because she overexerted herself.

Their debate would have continued, had they not run into Professor Byleth, whose normally blank face lit up with recognition.

“Ah! Bernadetta, Ferdinand. I was looking for you two. The Black Eagles have a skirmish today. I expect you two to be battle ready by the hour.”

A battle, huh? Bernadetta supposed she was able, her body mostly recovered. Although it was a shame that she couldn’t have her lazy Sunday after all.

But then Bernadetta remembered that in a skirmish, she would have to lead a battalion. The thought of telling those scary soldiers what to do was always daunting to her.

And not only that, but she wasn’t sure she had emotionally recovered from the fact that the other Black Eagles thought of her as a valuable friend. She was still trying to swallow that one.

She probably couldn’t even look them in the eyes right now.

Besides that, she was also really tired. Dealing with all the other Black Eagles again sounded exhausting.

With that, she came to a snap decision, “I’m sorry, Professor, but I just hit my head! I was only recently released from the Infirmary! I’ll have to stay in my room and recover!” Bernadetta insisted, excusing herself from the teacher.

She could hear Ferdinand’s disapproving sigh from next to her, but she didn’t care. She just really needed a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! It's done! I think this is my first completed multi chapter fic so that's neat.
> 
> Anyways, I did not expect to like Ferdinand as much as I do. He seemed like an annoying rival character at first, but the more we learned about him, the more I liked him. He is such a good and earnest guy I can't help but love him.
> 
> Bernadetta has been one of my favorites from pre release because of how relatable she is mostly. Writing from her perspective came really naturally for me!
> 
> Anyways, the entire reason I wrote this fic was because of this one analysis I read on reddit of Ferdinand and Bernadetta's C support. Here's the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/ccmi93/an_analysis_of_ferdinand_and_bernadettas_support/ 
> 
> But it really showed me how deep these characters were, and made me want to do something with them. That's also why Ferdinand is at the end.
> 
> It turned out a bit cornier than I would have liked, but I think this turned out okay.

**Author's Note:**

> So IGN put up a character wiki, and the Students have so many Hobbies! Bernadetta has the most, but I kinda don't really know that much about any of them... But I'll do my best
> 
> As an footnote, I just want to thank everyone who bookmarked, commented, left kudos, or even read this fic! It means a lot to me!


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